IRVINE After the tempest waters settled, Michael Phelps swam four lanes to his left to Ryan Lochte in Lane 2 and offered a friendly congratulations along with a sneak peek for the road to the Rio Olympics.
USA Swimming’s biggest rivals were united again Sunday night, happily pushing each other in a heated final in the 200-meter individual medley on the closing night of the Phillips 66 National Championships.
Just one day after U.S. men’s coach Bob Bowman wondered if his “two go-to guys” would be the “go-to guys” at the upcoming Pan Pacific Championships in Australia, Lochte and Phelps answered emphatically by unleashing a promising comeback-edition of their rivalry.
The North Carolina-based Lochte, 30, challenged his 2011 world record in leading from the start but narrowly held off a late charge in Lane 6 from Phelps, 29, to capture his first title of the meet with a time of 1 minute, 56.50 seconds at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center.
Lochte’s time ranks second in the world this year to Japan’s Kosuke Hagino (1:55.38) while Phelps’ 1:56.55 places him third in the world.
The crowd of more than 3,000 seemed to sense the moment, standing before the race to see if the swimming giants could finally recapture some of their glory in an evening final. Phelps and Lochte embraced the challenge together.
“(He) and I enjoy racing each other,” Phelps, the 22-time Olympic medalist, said. “Hopefully, Ryan and I can push each other and see what happens from there.”
Lochte, who took the silver to Phelps in the 200 IM at the 2012 Games, is coming off knee injuries late last year and earlier this year. But he was just two one-hundredth of a second off his world-record pace after the opening lap of butterfly and about half-a-second off the pace at the backstroke.
The breaststroke arrived next, the stroke that stresses the knees the most. Lochte fell more than a second off his world-record pace but had enough energy to hold off Phelps.
“This is really good for me,” Lochte said of the victory. “It was hard throughout this whole year. My confidence wasn’t really there just because I always relied on my training. … This year, I haven’t done that training (because of injury).”
But while Lochte and Phelps both haven’t done the training, they do have each other for motivation.
“We push each,” Lochte said. “I think that’s the best thing about our rivalry.”
North Baltimore’s Phelps, who came out retirement in April, didn’t win a title this week but felt so encouraged that he talked Sunday night about racing the 200-meter distances. He raced the 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle before Sunday’s finale.
“I felt good coming home,” Phelps said of his finish in the 200 IM. “I actually didn’t feel like it was as painful as some of the 100s. … It’s almost like I don’t have speed but I kind of have more endurance.”
Phelps and Lochte weren’t the only comeback story. Anthony Ervin, 33, captured his first national title in the 50 free since April 2001 by taking the one-lap race in 21.55, tied for third-fastest in the world this year. Ervin edged Cal training partner Nathan Adrian, who touched in 21.69.
Stanford-bound Simone Manuel, 18, won the women’s 50 in 24.56 while 12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coughlin finished sixth in 24.97, ending her chance to qualify for a record-tying fifth Pan Pacific team. Abbey Weitzeil of Santa Clarita’s Canyons Aquatic touched fifth in 24.91.
“There’s always going to be stumbles along the way,” Coughlin, 31, said. “So many new faces are swimming really fast in that (50 free) event, so I’m glad that we have such a strong sprint contingent for the U.S.”
UCLA junior-to-be Katy Campbell (La Canada) captured the 1,500 free in a lifetime-best 16:17.59. She earned the Swim Pasadena club its first national title and received her medal from distance queen, Janet Evans.
“Oh, my, gosh,” Campbell said of interacting with Evans. “That is like a dream of mine. She is my biggest swimming hero ever.”
After the meet, Katie McLaughlin of the Mission Viejo Nadadores and Santa Margarita and ex-Edison standout Tom Shields were introduced as members of the Pan Pacific Championships team.
